189 



one genus should have but one name and that that name should 

 consist of but one word. "Let every species of plant bear on its 

 standard the name of its genus, which marks the regiment in which 

 it serves." Many pages are devoted to the principles which should 

 govern the creation of generic names. Linnaeus himself later dis- 

 regarded many of these, as that "generic words compounded of two 

 entire Latin words are scarcely to be tolerated," which would 

 eliminate Passiflora, Saxijraga, Semperviviim. It is with a twinge 

 of regret, hardened though we may be by the perversions of modern 

 scientific jargon, that we read his strictures on hybrid names (com- 

 pounded from roots of more than one tongue) "of which the 

 philologists make violent complaint ;" and against "ell-long words" 

 {verba sesquipedalia), such as Meseinbryantheiiinin. A faint fore- 

 shadowing of a list of nomina conservanda is to be seen in the admis- 

 sion that "generic names which have been bestowed without harm 

 to Botany should, other things being equal, be allowed to pass." 



Of all his comments on generic names the following, which sheds 

 some light on Linnaeus' view of the stability of species, is perhaps 

 the most interesting : "You may observe, they say, in Hemerocallis 

 (for instance) that the root is exactly that of an Asphodel, and the 

 flower exactly that of a Lily : is not then 'Lilio-asphodelus' an 

 excellent name for it? No, I am sorry that I cannot see their 

 point. ... If there were such a thing as metamorphosis in plants, so 

 that from one species could arise another belonging to a difTerent 

 genus .... such names would no doubt be excellent and admirably 

 suited to such plants." If he had known of Raphano-Brassica his 

 conclusion must have been different. 



The specific names of this work are the so-called "polynomials" 

 — descriptive phrases rather than names in the modern sense, 

 expressing "the Differentia which is imprinted on the plant itself." 

 Most of the argument is directed to the elucidation of the essen- 

 tial characters, those which may properly be considered to distin- 

 guish species. "The specific name has no description but is itself 

 a diagnosis." Size, habitat, scent, taste must not be used in the 

 specific name, but "only those characters . . . which are constant, 

 certain and organic." He quotes from Sloan "an appalling diag- 

 nosis: Arum sujumis labris degustanfes mutos reddens" (the arum 

 which strikes dumb those who only just taste it ; indeed an unfor- 

 tunate choice of character for identification). The specific names 



